campus carry

A federal appeals court is upholding a decision to dismiss a challenge to a 2015 Texas law allowing licensed handgun owners to carry concealed weapons in most places on public college campuses. Three UT-Austin professors brought the lawsuit, arguing it violated their constitutional rights — mainly that it has a chilling effect on free speech by introducing guns into a classroom setting.

The state's controversial "campus carry" law took effect one year ago. The law allows students with concealed handgun licenses, and who are 21 years old, to carry a firearm in certain places on public university campuses.

A federal judge has dismissed a longshot lawsuit filed by three University of Texas at Austin professors seeking to overturn the state's 2015 campus carry law, which allows people to carry concealed handguns inside most public university buildings.

Texas’ campus carry law went into effect this week, which allows people with concealed handgun licenses to carry their weapons onto public universities. University of North Texas President Neal Smatresk is one of many school administrators wrestling with how to enforce the law.

On Monday at the University of Texas at Austin, where students studied at shaded outdoor tables and hoisted backpacks to walk to summer school classes, there were few obvious signs that a new state law had taken effect allowing guns in university buildings.

UT Austin officials say there shouldn’t be much of a difference for anyone on campus now that concealed handguns are allowed on school grounds. In fact, officials have said that if you see a gun on campus, you should call the police.

UT Austin president Greg Fenves had a simple message for students and staff on campus Monday.

After months of meetings, protests and political debates, the time has come: It’s legal to carry handguns into university buildings in Texas. The state’s new campus carry law, passed in 2015, went into effect Monday.

The University of Texas at Austin will give its faculty and staff the option of banning guns from their private offices when the state’s campus carry law goes into effect next month, under regulations that UT System regents passed Wednesday.

Three University of Texas at Austin professors sued their university and the state on Wednesday, claiming Texas' new campus carry law is forcing the school to impose "overly-solicitous, dangerously-experimental gun policies" that violate the First and Second Amendments.

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A year before Texas' campus carry law takes effect at public junior and community colleges, a state representative has asked Attorney General Ken Paxton to determine whether such institutions that offer programs for minors may prohibit concealed weapons.

Members of the University of Texas System Board of Regents raised concern about their schools’ proposed rules for handguns on campus and signaled plans to attempt to change some of those policies before they go into effect on Aug 1.

There is a pistol-packing revolution going on in America. Nearly 13 million Americans have permits to carry concealed handguns — triple the number just nine years ago — and that figure is low because not every state reports.

The thousands of professors who attend the Modern Language Association's annual conventions usually talk literature, linguistics and language. But last week in Austin, many took a break to focus on something outside the norm — guns.

In the wake of President Obama's efforts to take on gun violence, the head of the group Open Carry Texas told KERA News that the president "wants to make sure that more kids die by refusing to allow us to carry on the schools to protect our own kids."

We’ve heard about open carry, the new law now in effect in Texas. It allows license holders to openly carry guns. Later this year, another gun law called campus carry goes into effect. Guns must be concealed at colleges. Campuses are trying to figure out how the new law will work.

Texas Christian University announced Friday that it won’t allow concealed weapons on campus. That decision sets the private Fort Worth school apart from state universities that will be required to allow “campus carry.”

A group made up of professors, and a few others, rallied behind their common goal of a gun-free UT on Monday at the University of Texas at Austin. This pushback against a state campus carry law passed last session has been building for months. The new law is set to take effect next year.

The protesters' message was loud and clear: ban guns or we could sue. Law professor Ken Williams from South Texas College of Law in Houston says their main claim will center around how universities will ensure a safe environment for both students and faculty.

William McRaven took over as chancellor of the UT System at the beginning of 2015. Already he's had to navigate major changes in how the statewide system operates, and form new plans to accommodate the new campus carry law that goes into effect for the fall 2016 semester.